Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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34. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the actions she will take to urgently address spiralling coal costs to support families facing huge pressures; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14881/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to protecting vulnerable households from the impact of energy costs through a combination of supports, energy efficiency awareness initiatives and investment in programmes to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock. 

With regard to income supports my Department provides a range of schemes to assist with energy costs.  These include -

- The Fuel Allowance which is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (giving a total per recipient of €924 each year) from October to April (estimated to cost €366 million in 2022).

- Electricity or gas allowances under the Household Benefits scheme (at an estimated cost in 2022 of €203 million).

- A special heating supplement under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme.

- Exceptional needs payments to help meet an essential once-off cost which an applicant is unable to meet out of his/her own resources.

- As part of the overall welfare budget package of €600m in increases secured for 2022, I increased the Fuel Allowance payment by €5 per week effective from Budget night.  I also increased the weekly income threshold for Fuel Allowance by €20 which enables more people to qualify for this support. 

- Further Government measures were recently announced to help mitigate the effects of rising energy costs.  As part of these measures totaling over half a billion euro, an additional lump sum payment of €125 was paid to all households in receipt of the Fuel Allowance payment.  It is expected that this additional lump sum will cost an estimated €49 million.

- This payment in addition to the Budget increase will mean low-income households will see an increase of 41% this Fuel Allowance season compared to last season.

- The recently announced Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Payment is another key measure and will be paid in addition to the gas and electricity element of the HHB package to qualifying households.  Approximately 2.1m households will benefit by €200 each from the new scheme. 

- The combined worth of these payment to fuel allowance recipients is €325, which is the equivalent of almost 10 weeks of the Fuel Allowance payment.

- Furthermore, due to the continuing rise in inflation and as part of the economic consequences of the tragic conflict in Ukraine, the Government reduced excise duty on some fuels.

- The provision of any further additional supports would have cost implications and could only be considered while taking account of the overall budgetary context and the availability of financial resources.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 35 and 77 together.

The Farm Assist Scheme is a means tested support for farmers on low incomes who satisfy the schemes's statutory conditions including a means test.  The estimated expenditure for the scheme for 2022 is approximately €53.9 million.

A commitment was made under the Programme for Government and in the 'Our Rural Future Rural Development Policy 2021-2025' to conduct a review of the means test disregards for Farm Assist to better reward farmers who avail of the scheme.  This review has been completed and I intend to publish the report shortly.

As part of the review process it was recommended to provide for an extensive expansion to the list of Agri-Environmental schemes which will qualify towards the disregard of €2,540 with 50% of the balance assessed as means.  The Social Welfare Act 2022, which enacts Budget 2022 measures, extended the list of schemes to which this measure applies. 

The measure was originally due to take effect from October 2022 but will now be implemented from June.  It will support the Government’s climate change agenda and act as an incentive to farmers to participate in these schemes.

I have since agreed to carry out a review of how income from land leased out by farmers is treated in the means assessments for the State Non-Contributory Pension and the Farm Assist scheme.  This is being progressed within the Department. 

I trust that this clarifies the position at this time.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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36. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of the enhanced illness benefit scheme which was introduced to help with the impact of Covid. [14866/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Enhanced illness benefit was introduced in 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and is currently due to continue until the end of June 2022.  Changes have been made on an ongoing basis in line with public health advice and government guidelines.

Under the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020 (No. 1), the Government extended the Social Welfare Acts to provide for entitlement to illness benefit for persons who have been diagnosed with, or are a probable source of infection with Covid-19.

In addition to this medical requirement, people must be under pensionable age and have the required number of Pay Related Social Insurance contributions in order to qualify.

The rate of this enhanced payment is higher than the normal maximum personal rate of illness benefit, for a limited period only.  The enhanced rate is €350, with additional payments in respect of dependent adults and children.

From March 2020 the benefit was payable for up to 2 weeks where a person was isolating as a probable source of infection of Covid-19, and up to 10 weeks where a person had been diagnosed with Covid-19.  The duration of payment was reduced to 7 days for those considered a probable risk from 14 January 2022, in line with government guidelines.  From that date, asymptomatic people who are close contacts are not required to restrict their movements, and are not eligible for the payment.  If, however, they start showing symptoms they should immediately self-isolate and, in this circumstance, may apply for enhanced illness benefit. 

Enhanced illness benefit continues to be paid for a maximum of 10 weeks if a person has been diagnosed with COVID-19, subject to ongoing medical certification.  In a case where a person continues to be ill beyond 10 weeks, standard Illness Benefit may be paid for an extended period but for a maximum of two years, based on the person’s continued eligibility. 

As the payment was intended as a temporary public health measure, the Act includes a sunset clause to ensure the cessation of the benefit.  The enhanced payment has been extended on several occasions due to the ongoing nature of the pandemic.  The Government has agreed that the payment will remain in place on its current terms until the end of June 2022, at which point the position will be considered further in light of public health advice.

Expenditure on the scheme was €56 million in 2020 and €106 million in 2021.  In the week from Friday 4 March to Thursday 10 March, 11,121 people were in receipt of enhanced illness benefit.  As of 11 March 2022, this department has made 628,069 payments since the start of the payment in March 2020 with an average payment of €425.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.